SPEAR of destiny: EW capability runs alongside high-subsonic missile development
MBDA’s SPEAR-EW missile will help protect combat aircraft from radar threats when flying missions in contested airspace. (Image: MBDA)
MBDA has revealed more details about progress on the SPEAR-EW air-launched missile.
MBDA and Leonardo are jointly developing the Selective Precision Effects at Range-Electronic Warfare (SPEAR-EW) standoff missile. The air-launched weapon will provide EW support to single aircraft or groups of aircraft in kinetically and electromagnetically contested airspace.
SPEAR-EW is based on the SPEAR 3 air-to-surface weapon under development by MBDA. It replaces the latter’s kinetic warhead with an EW payload that is believed to include an electronic support measure (ESM) to detect, localise and identify radar threats. These threats can then be attacked electronically using the jamming payload aboard SPEAR-EW.
Radar detection and jamming frequencies for the SPEAR-EW remain under
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